Still Looking For A Mid-Autumn Feast? The Best Places To Book Now

The moon is round, the family group chat is getting busy, and someone still has to decide where everyone is eating.

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 25 this year, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Traditionally a harvest celebration, it has become a festival of reunion: families gather for dinner, share mooncakes and admire the full moon together. The round moon and round mooncakes are symbols of completeness and togetherness, while the harvest itself brings an old idea of abundance and gratitude.

For those still looking for a table, these are the places we would consider first. Some are full-on Chinese feasts; others offer a more relaxed way into the season. What they have in common is that they give you something worth gathering around.

Crystal Dragon, City of Dreams Manila

At Crystal Dragon, Chef de Cuisine Chan Choo Kean presents a festive Cantonese menu showcasing premium ingredients, refined flavors and craftsmanship, available for lunch and dinner from September 21 to 30. Begin with Hokkaido scallop, fish maw and squid in golden broth, then order the crispy roasted duck with maca and Chinese herbs as the centerpiece. Braised pork knuckles with sea cucumber and baby greens and steamed blue crab with taro and glutinous rice in lotus leaf round out the savory courses. Dessert brings three festive treats: baked mini piggy mooncake, lotus paste snow-skin mooncake and golden rabbit pumpkin pudding. 

Newport World Resorts: A Mid-Autumn Festival Across Asia

Newport World Resorts is marking Mid-Autumn Festival on September 25 with a collection of dining experiences that move beyond the traditional Chinese feast, from Cantonese dim sum and claypot dishes to Japanese kaiseki and Korean Chuseok barbecue. The festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, when families traditionally gather to celebrate the harvest, share food and mooncakes, and enjoy the full moon. For Chinese families, the round mooncake and full moon symbolize reunion and completeness.

For a Cantonese lunch, Happy 8 is known for its fresh seafood and popular all-you-can-eat dim sum. The Mid-Autumn addition is a crispy salted taro puff filled with salted egg yolk and ube paste, priced at PHP 280 nett. Don’t miss: the taro puff—a crisp golden shell around a sweet-savory filling that feels particularly at home in the Philippines.

At Victoria Harbour Café, Cantonese barbecue and Chinese-Filipino dishes include a Cantonese braised beef brisket and ox tripe in claypot, slowly simmered in an aromatic broth for PHP 770 nett. Don’t miss: this with steamed rice; the broth is too good to leave behind.

For something simpler, 9 Noodle offers nine signature noodle dishes, including a creamy fish noodle soup with fresh salmon, tofu and mushrooms for PHP 600 nett. It is on the third floor of the Garden Wing. Don’t miss: this if your idea of a family meal is a comforting bowl of noodles rather than a formal feast.

The Mid-Autumn calendar also brings Sinagtala Famsgiving to Marriott Café at Manila Marriott Hotel, where Chef Sharwin Tee takes over the kitchen with Tsinoy family recipes including kiam peng, camaron rellenado, pata tim and taro sago. The buffet runs Wednesdays and Thursdays through September 30, from 6 to 9 p.m., at PHP 3,399 nett per person. Don’t miss: the kiam peng and camaron rellenado, which reflect how Chinese cooking has become part of Filipino home cooking.

If Korean barbecue sounds more appealing, Oori at Sheraton Manila Hotel celebrates Chuseok, Korea’s harvest festival, from September 25 to 27 with unlimited US top blade and samgyupsal, plus a banchan buffet of kimchi, tteokbokki and Korean rice cakes. The September 25 opening night is PHP 4,000 per person and includes festival activities, prizes and souvenir photos; September 26 and 27 are PHP 3,000 per person. Don’t miss: the September 25 opening if you want the full festival experience.

For those who prefer Japanese autumn traditions, Yamazato offers three Kinshu Kaiseki menus through November 30: a six-course seasonal kaiseki at PHP 6,800++, a three-layer obento kaiseki at PHP 4,000++, and a teppan kaiseki featuring A5 Arita Wagyu beef clod at PHP 7,500++. Don’t miss: the teppan menu if the Wagyu is what brings you to the table.

China Blue by Jereme Leung, Conrad Manila

Mid-Autumn is, after all, a harvest festival, and China Blue makes it possible to bring a proper feast home. Its Conrad e-store offers China Blue platters including a BBQ Whole Roasted Suckling Pig HK Style at PHP 10,125, Golden Roast US Duck with BBQ Sauce at PHP 4,820, and a Dimsum Platter at PHP 2,200. Advance ordering is required for the suckling pig. For a family gathering: the duck and dim sum make the more manageable pairing; save the whole pig for a genuinely large celebration.

Mid-Autumn is one of those festivals whose rituals are remarkably simple: gather people you love, put good food on the table, share something sweet and, if the clouds cooperate, look up at the moon. There is no need to make it more complicated than that.